IRS looking to block queue jumping services

[PATAX]

Just read article that states this.. I think others have commented about this on this forum. 

[sjrcpa · Accepted solution]

It was in Tax Notes

IRS Looking to Block Line Jumping for Phone Calls
Posted on Oct. 18, 2022
By Nathan J. Richman
The IRS is preparing a pilot program to use artificial intelligence technology to weed out phone
queue-jumping services.
“Just this week, there was an internal announcement — but I’ve been authorized to talk about it
externally — [of] a practitioner priority hotline enhancement which is an effort to deal with robocalls
into the IRS, and specifically the autodialer programs,” Timothy McCormally of the IRS Office of
Professional Responsibility said October 14 at the American Bar Association Section of Taxation
meeting.
The IRS plans to use an AI tool to sort out those autodialed calls and prevent line-cutting through
technology, McCormally said.
If it works, tax professionals who have their own programs or use services like enQ Inc. may become
frustrated, McCormally said.
“That’s going to be rolled out in a pilot sometime soon. But we’re making an effort to deal with the
autodialer problem that has caused an awful lot of you to spend a lot more time on hold,”
McCormally said.
There is some split in the tax community over the overall effect of enQ. Some defend enQ, instead
placing the blame for long hold times on too few IRS employees to answer too many calls, especially
during the COVID-19 pandemic. Others say enQ is making the problem worse, even suggesting the
company could be criminally obstructing the IRS’s operations.
An alternative solution — a callback service without the initial call — has been met with a cautious
welcome.

[rbynaker]

Generally I blame Congress for the pile of work dumped into the IRS's lap the past several years.  ACA, TCJA and everything COVID.  But then the IRS brings a good amount of it on themselves when they do things like this:

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-sending-letters-to-over-9-million-potentially-eligible-families-who...

When you can't answer the phone and it takes 6 months to open the mail, you don't need to be drumming up new business.

[BobKamman]

But Congress also earmarks appropriations for administration of specific IRS projects.  If IRS has $100 million for recovery-rebate promotion and doesn't spend it, the money will evaporate.  They can do creative accounting and assign higher amounts to overhead, for those special projects.  

[BobKamman]

Here's a blog post with more details

https://procedurallytaxing.com/the-irs-strikes-back-against-robocalls/